Developing a Getting Started Guide for Web Applications
The Getting Started Guide is the first thing new developers read when integrating with your application. The goal is simple: bring someone to their first working result in minimum time. Not to explain everything—to explain what's most important for the first 15 minutes.
Structure of an Effective Getting Started Guide
A good guide follows the "action → result" principle:
- Prerequisites — what you need upfront (Node.js 20+, account, API key). No fluff.
-
Installation — one command if possible.
npm install,pip install,composer require. -
Configuration — minimal set of variables. Example
.env.example. - First request — a working code example that developers copy and run immediately.
- What's next — links to next steps: Authentication, Core Concepts, API Reference.
The "copy-paste works" Principle
Every code block in Getting Started should work when copied without changes or with minimal placeholder replacement. Test: take a clean computer, follow the guide literally—everything should work.
// Example of good code in Getting Started
const { Client } = require('@yourapp/sdk');
const client = new Client({
apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY', // Replace with your key from dashboard
baseUrl: 'https://api.yourapp.com/v1',
});
const result = await client.users.list({ limit: 10 });
console.log(result.data); // [{ id: '...', name: '...', ... }]
Alongside the example—expected output. The developer compares what they got with what should be.
Tools
Getting Started is written in the same tool as main documentation: Docusaurus, MkDocs Material, Mintlify. Important: the page should be first in navigation and accessible without authentication.
For interactivity—embedded CodeSandbox or StackBlitz where you can run the example directly in browser without installation.
Maintaining Relevance
Getting Started becomes outdated with every breaking change in API or SDK. Solution—automatically test code examples in CI. For Node.js examples, use doctest or a simple script that runs code blocks from markdown files.
Timeline
Writing a Getting Started Guide for a typical web application with REST API takes 2–3 days. Includes: analyzing happy path, writing examples, testing in clean environment, configuring in documentation tool.